A space for discussion about issues raised by the pervasiveness of the web.

Wednesday, February 16, 2011

Trolling

I believe that being anonymous online can be both a good and a bad thing. From what we have read we have seen the negative effects which are referred to as trolling. Trolling has came up and any comment section or forum on the internet over time and is very unnecessary. It seems as though people have nothing better to do than to go and ruin someone else days with uncalled for comments.

A positive effect of being anonymous online is being able to be someone you always wanted to be but never were able to. Or being able to express your opinion on something that you wouldn't normally. Being anonymous allows people to be more comfortable with what they say and their actions online because no one can find out who they are easily which leads to the fact that your friends or anyone around you can't judge based on those opinions.

This same thing is what also allows for trolling to happen. These people can go and post anything they want without the risk of being easily found or tracked down. I believe that those doing this are also doing it for the attention. Think about all the articles and situations caused by these post and how the public looks at them and discusses them. The trolls then can sit back and see what they have caused and get enjoyment out of it. I feel that if there was less attention to come from it then there would be less of it. So in my mind to be able to help fight it off we should apply monitors on commented sites to delete the posts but also not give them any recognition to show that they bother us.